Liadoff, Anatole

1855-

Russian composer and teacher; born in St. Petersburg. Both his father and grandfather had been professional musicians, and his father gave him his first musical instruction. He entered the Conservatory, where his work was brilliant; at the same time he studied composition under Rimsky-Korsakov. He graduated in 1877 and the next year was made a professor in the Conservatory. He is now conducting special classes in harmony and composition there and holds a similar position in the Imperial Court Chapel. He was associated with Ealakirev and Liapounov in making researches into the folk-songs of various districts for the Imperial Geographical Society. Since 1894 he, with Rimsky-Korsakov, his former teacher, and Glazounoff, has been leading the concerts of the Musical Society. His most numerous and brilliant compositions are for the piano and they show the influence of Chopin, containing, however, a distinctly Russian character. Among them are a popular series, entitled Birioulki, and a set of Arabesques. His principal orchestral works are a scherzo, a mazurka, and a choral finale for Schiller's Bride of Messina.